By Makenna Sievertson/LAist
Originally published on LAist
L.A. County’s courts reopened Tuesday, but some court functions remain limited.
People are being warned to expect delays and appear in person for some departments, including for family, probate, and traffic cases.
Alphonse Provinziano, a senior trial attorney at Provinziano & Associates in Beverly Hills that focuses exclusively on family law, told LAist the issues have been pretty extreme and it’s been a “very challenging” week so far.
“This is affecting people’s real lives and their ability to handle very sensitive issues,” he said.
Going in person?
All 36 courthouses are open for business, and if you were scheduled to appear Wednesday, it should proceed as planned.
If you’re planning to appear in person, give yourself plenty of time. Provinziano said one of their firm’s attorneys had to park five blocks away from the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A. and ended up being about a half hour late to a hearing.
“Which they totally understood, because there was a huge backup of people waiting to get into the courthouse, which was only compounded by the fact that you couldn’t file things electronically,” he said.
If you need to be at the courthouse by 8:30 a.m., for example, he recommends getting there at least 45 minutes in advance.
What about remote appearances and electronic filing?
Court officials said remote appearances are available for civil cases only, including small claims and unlawful detainers. But the system did stop working for about an hour on Wednesday.
Remote appearances are still unavailable for family law, probate, and traffic cases, and people are instructed to appear in person. If you don’t, you’ll be given a continuance date.
Electronic filing was working once again for all documents in civil cases as of early Wednesday afternoon. But only for “initiating documents” in other departments, all other documents “remain unavailable at this time.”
How are people dealing with this?
Overall, Provinziano said these issues have upended how the system has been operating as remote appearances and electronic filing became more common, and efficient, in a post-pandemic world.
For example, a mother they’ve been working with wasn’t able to come to court in person Tuesday and see what happened with her case because of child care and distance issues.
“They’re needing to seek spousal support, child support, attorney’s fees, child custody orders, and they’ve already waited maybe 20 to 60 days to have their hearings from when they filed it, and now they’re going to have to wait additional time,” he said. “Anytime you have justice delayed it can feel like justice denied, because you’re not getting those orders that you need.”
What’s next?
Provinziano expects the impacts to be felt for at least a couple of weeks, if not months. However, he noted court officials are working to bring services back online “immediately because they know that they need to.”
Court officials said they will provide updates on their Temporary Information Center, as well as the official Instagram and X accounts.
What’s working and what’s not
Courthouses: The 36 courthouses are open for business 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Court staff will be available to answer questions.
Remote appearances:
- As of Wednesday, court officials said remote appearances would be unavailable for the Family law, Probate and Traffic law departments and instructed people to appear in person. If you don’t appear in person, you’ll be given a new date.
- Remote Civil proceedings were back online.
- WebEx, which is used for Criminal, Mental Health and Juvenile departments, is available.
Electronic recording: If a courtroom uses this system for capturing the court record, it should be available for use.
Jury duty: Check your summons! If you have jury duty this week (July 22 – July 26) and are in group numbers 5, 6, 87 or 97, and are assigned to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center or the San Fernando Courthouse, you are required to report at 8 a.m. Wednesday, July 24.
If you don’t see your number or courthouse location, you are not required to report. If you’re already serving and assigned to a particular case, follow the reporting instructions from that department.
Jurors may now call (213) 972-0970 for the most current updates.
Restraining orders: You can file Temporary Restraining Orders in person at any Family Law Clerk’s Office throughout Los Angeles County.
Electronic filing: Initiating and subsequent documents are all back online.
Call centers: Available during normal business hours. See the list ▶
Self-Help centers: Open Tuesday. These centers help people self-representing in court. Find them here ▶
Court’s website: Some pages www.lacourt.org are available now. Court officials say others should work again “as the remainder of the Court’s systems are brought back online.”
This report is reprinted with permission from Southern California Public Radio. © 2024 Southern California Public Radio. All rights reserved.
